Good morning, friends! This is Emily Betts, a close friend of Maribeth’s and writer of The Altogether Unexpected. I do hope you are finding yourself well on this final Monday of February.
I do have some rather unfortunate news concerning our dear friend Maribeth. Rest assured, she is alive and well, but her right arm is in a less than favorable position.
In a fateful turn of events this past Tuesday, a blast of rare winter weather hit Louisiana and covered the roads with an unforgivable, slippery layer of ice. Playing with her siblings in the yard, our friend slipped and fell on her arm, breaking her right elbow, which necessitated a surgical procedure full of plates and screws.
As you have probably already concluded, her arm is in a sling, and she is in the relatively painful beginning stages of recovery. The fingers of her right hand are very clumsy and impossible to position over a keyboard right now, so she has resolved to take a break from blogging for a month or so in order to heal properly. She’s told me she hopes to be fit to blog again around mid-March, and I certainly hope she will be! She’s resting well, her family is taking wonderful care of her at home, and she has sent Yours Truly to announce a much-needed blog hiatus.
She sends her love and heartfelt gratitude to all of you for your prayers and understanding. In the meantime, please do leave comments and warm messages, as she will certainly be reading them during her recovery! She is so thankful to all of you for your faithful continued support and readership, and is so looking forward to coming back to you all soon.
Signing off,
Maribeth Barber Albritton 
I am so very sorry to hear this Maribeth!! Will be praying for you to heal soon. May the next few weeks be filled with many hours of comfort reading!
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Aww, Victoria, thank you! This comment is brought to you by My Very Own Self and my trusty left hand 😉 I will be doing a LOT of reading, that’s for sure!
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That’s nasty, I’m so sorry! I’m glad you are recovering well (although I know it’s still painful) and I hope your rest is a peaceful one! ❤
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It has hurt like the dickens, Katie Hanna. Wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. But just like left-handed typing, I’m making slow but sure progress 😉
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Well, that’s wretched. Please get well soon!
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I will certainly try!
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Oh no, I am so sorry to hear that! 😦 Please tell Maribeth I hope she recovers soon and that I’ll be praying for her. ❤
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Thanks for your prayers, Kristianne! This IS me, btw; I’m just typing with my left hand, which does the job for short comments and tweets but makes blogging incredibly difficult. I hope to be back soon!
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We’ll miss you. ❤ Get better soon!
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😦 Praying for your swift recovery!
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Thank you, Marian!
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Tell that dear girl that we love her and will be praying heart-felt prayers for swift healing of her arm… to God’s glory! ( I was on the verge of writing to ask her how she was writing to inform us in her earlier messages!) —-I was surmising ambidexterity, left-handedness, or amanuensis 🙂
Thanks for being the latter Emily!
Hug her for us…gently ;-}
Denise
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Hey, Denise–this actually IS Maribeth 😂 I have been able to write those short posts in our Facebook group with my left hand, and that’s how I’m writing this comment too–but writing longer stuff requires a loooooooooot more time and patience. Emily sweetly and graciously offered to write this hiatus announcement while I was still in the hospital. I accept all the (gentle) hugs, haha!
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Keep going Maribeth! I’m a long way from you – near Liverpool UK – but being a retired nurse I can well imagine the pain and discomfort. Take time to listen to the birds – watch nature – and learn that life is not all about rushing hither and thither even when young like you! God bless you richly and heal you swiftly
Tina
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Dear Tina, I am so sorry I’m just now responding to your comment! I vaguely remembering seeing it in my inbox, but I’m afraid I must’ve drifted off into one of my painkiller-induced naps and completely forgot about it. Again, my apologies! I found your comment again when I was working on my recent post, and I was so touched by your kindness and encouragement. Thank you so much for taking the time to remind me to rest and enjoy the quiet.
Also, may I just say how exciting it is to get a comment from a reader in Liverpool? I’m a lifelong Anglophile and even visited England seven years ago. Yours is a lovely land!
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Hello Maribeth
I did not expect you to reply to my email….being ill is about resting…..so no need to respond to this! However, I must set the record straight – I live in a place called Warrington which is 20 miles east of Liverpool but when corresponding with folk in other parts of the world…I tend to mention Liverpool as folk can identify with that.
Glad you managed a visit UK…come back one day….we love all visitors! My main intellectual interests are theology and history…..after retirement from nursing I went to Oxford to do a degree in those subjects….so if you are ever in the north of UK…..I could conduct you around all the ancient sites of the foundation of Christianity here …Lindisfarne, Iona etc., but first….get better soon!
God bless Tina
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